Abstract Detail

Plastids are a group of organelles present in the cells of higher and lower plants and algae. Along with photosynthesis, they provide a variety of biochemical capabilities and are one of the defining features of plant cells. We are interested in studying the often overlooked pro-plastid (the progenitor of all plastid types). One of our approaches to gaining a better understanding of this organelle is to employ electron tomography to make 3-Dimensional renderings of the cellular and tissue environments where pro-plastids reside. We are using Arabidopsis seeds, Arabidopsis leaf and root calli as our initial model tissues. So far these tissues have been successfully fixed, embedded, and sectioned for TEM in preparation for tomographic analysis. A second approach, Focused Ion Beam-SEM (FIB-SEM), is also underway. FIB-SEM uses an ion beam to generate serial sections followed by 3D reconstruction of the target material. TEM and FIB-SEM micrographs of Arabidopsis seeds and callus have been generated and will be presented.